Means for holding and masking articles during coating



June 10, 1952 F. OUSE 2,600,161

MEANS FOR HOLDING AND MASKING ARTICLES DURING COATING Filed July 13, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l M INVENTOR. flair/"MK Z 131456 W MMML array/v5) F. Z. FOUSE June 10, 1952 MEANS FOR HOLDING AND MASKING ARTICLES DURING COATING Filed July 13 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 'lfllllllmlllllllll/ Il w QaE-% INVENTOR. fr'ggkrzkl Z 7211? HTTUIPA/EY Patented June 10, 1952 MEANS FOR HOLDING AND MASKING ARTICLES DURING COATING Frederick Z. Fouse, Lancaster, Pa., assignor to Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation, Lancaster, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application July 13, 1950, Serial N 0. 173,492

9 Claims. (01. 118-500) The present invention relates generally to means for supporting and partially shielding articles such as bottles and moving them past a station where a decorative coating is applied to exterior surfaces of the articles.

With some products, for example, clear, colorless liquids such as gin, the appearance of the bottled product is greatly enhanced by providing the bottle with a frosty looking exterior surface. Such surfaces have been provided by treating the outer bottle walls with acid or by sandblasting them. These previous methods are objectionable however as the former is costly and hazardous, and the latter method readily shows finger marks whenever contacted and also tends to weaken the bottles. These difficulties have been overcome by spraying a coating material onto the bottles to give a similar decorative effect and the present invention is directed to means for appropriately holding the bottles and shielding desired portions of them in connection with application of such a coating.

The present invention aims to provide improved means for supporting bottles and shielding appropriate portions of them that are to receive labels, moving them to a spraying station and rotating them to present all desired surfaces to a coating spray, removing them from the spraying station, and releasing them for removal.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved machine for handling articles such as bottles in connection with the application of coatings to the bottles.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and effective means for supporting articles and shielding portions of them during the application of a coating to the articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a continuously moving conveyor embodying devices for firmly supporting articles in inverted positions and moving them past a spraying station.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for masking portions of articles while supported, and for automatically moving the masking means into and out of contact with the articles.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view showing one form of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view illustrating means for supporting an article and shielding portions of it;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing means similar to that of Fig. 2,. but particularly useful with fiat sided articles, and embodying means for masking substantially the entire neck portion of an article such as a bottle.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a device similar to that of Figs. 2 and 3, but particularly adapted to support a bottle having a short neck portion; and

Fig. 6 is a developed, elevational view illustrating a cam which may be used to actuate articleretaining arms such as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

While the present invention could be used to support and partially shield various kinds of articles during coating applications, it is particularly useful in connection with applying coating to bottles and will be described chiefly with reference to such use.

As shown in Fig. 1, the machine of the present invention comprises endless conveyor means I that travels about sprockets I9 and 2|] in a horizontal plane and through a closed path. The sprockets I9 and 20 are secured to upright shafts I3 and I 4 respectively and these shafts, sprockets and conveyors are shown driven by a motor 4 through the intermediation of drive shaft 5, worm gear 6, worm wheel I, sprocket 8 keyed to shaft I3, drive chain ID, and sprocket II keyed to shaft I4. The conveyor sprockets I9 and 20 are provided with suitable cut away portions to receive portions of the conveyor I and move it through its .closed path.

Mounted at spaced intervals along. the conveyor I are devices 3 for supporting and shielding or masking desired portions of articles that are to be coated. The supporting and shielding devices are shown more particularly in Figs. 2-5. Bottles 2 are inserted into the supporting devices at the left side of Fig. l, where the devices are opened by cams 22. After bottles are inserted, the conveyor moves them past a spraying station 23, shown at the right side of Fig. 1. Asbottles move past the spraying station they are rotated by a rack 25 so that a coating being sprayed may readily reach all desired portions of the bottles. The spraying applicator is denoted generally by the reference character 23; it may comprise a hand operated spray gun or means for automatically applying a coating on the articles as they move past the spraying station. The conveyor means I may be of any suitable length.-

Each link. or unit included in the conveyor l may be of similar construction and operation and each is shown flexible connected adjacent its ope posite ends with adjoining links .bypins 28, .so that each unit or link may pivot'about the pins 28 as the conveyor 1 travels around the sprockets l8 and 20.

As shown more particularly in Figs. 2-andlj each unit has flanges projecting laterally from" These flanges may travel along the upper surface of opposite sides of a central bearing 30.

supporting tracks formed by angle irons and 35, the bearing portion 30 extending downwardly between inner edgesoflthe angle irons. The angle irons 34 and 35'rnay be securedto any suitable-"base or portion ofthe machine. A spindle 31 extends through the bearing 30 and is shown provided adjacentits lowerend with a gear 38 adapted to rotate the spindleabout its axis, as will be brought out in greater detail hereinafter. The spindle is supported upon. an upper shoulder of the bearing 30 by a collar 40, and has an upwardly projecting threaded portion 4! for retaining" thereon a chuck devicewhich holds the bottles -2'that areto becoated at the spraying station 23.

Each of the chuck devices includes a centrally apertured bottle supporting member 42, fixedly secured to the spindle connection 4| by a'threadedsocket 43, which carries arms or lever members 44 and 45 adapted to extend alongsidea bottle. The arms 44andi45 are rotatably secured to the support member 42 by pins 50 and so that their upper portionsmay move toward'and away from each'otherfor contacting or releasingan intermediate bottle. Preferably the arms 44 and 45 'fit into recesses 45 and'4l of the supporting member 42 as this provides a more com.- pact structure and 'minimizes the possibility of an otherwise protruding arm hitting something during rotation. Each'of the arms may carry a cover plate, 48 and 49, adjacent its connected end to-minimize the possibilityofcoating material finding its way into the chuck devices during spraying.

In Fig. 2, the arms are shown in an inward position by solid lines and an outer position of the arms is indicated by the dot-dash lines. When the arms are-apart from each other, a bot-' tle may be inserted neck downwardly into a bushing 55 that extends into the central aperture of the support member 42; This bushing may be of any suitable diameter and depth to accommodate neckportions of the-particular size and type of bottle to be coated. After a bottle is thus inserted, the arms 44 and 45 -move toward each other so that shield portions, having 'theconfiguration of labels and carried adjacent their upper ends, come into contact with the'side walls of the bottle. The shields'GO and 61 maybe mountedon inwardly extending members 51 and 58, the shields being shaped to'fit closely against adjacent bottle wall portions inorder to prevent coating materials from being sprayed onto the coveredwall portions; Thus; portions of the walls which are to receive labels may beleft free of coating'materials.

Where roundf bottles are being sprayed, the

4 shields 60 and 61 may have a curvature similar to that of the rounded bottle walls so as to effectively conceal underlying portions. The shields may be secured to the inwardly extending members 51 and 58 by pins or rivets E4 and 65, the rivets being sufficiently loose to permit limited movement of "the'shields and adjustment thereof to fit closely against adjacent bottle walls. The arms 44 and 45 are also preferably provided with uatplurality of sets of apertures adapted to receive and retain the shield-carrying members, so that the-shields may be positioned at appropriate locations on the arms to cover desired portions of different sizes of bottles.

When the bottles to be decorated have flat sides in lieu of circular sides the shields are preferablyplanar, as illustrated in Fig. 3, so that they may fit closely against the flat sides of the bottle 2a. Where the bottles have fiat sides it is not generally necessary to provide slight adjustmentrof the ishieldsfwithrespect to the bottle walls andhence the shields may be firmly screwed to their carrying imembers 51a and 56a.

Movement'ofthe arms '44 and 45about their pins 50 and 51, to placethe shields in andout of contact with bottle-walls, is provided by applying pressure upwardly or downwardly against arm extensions '61 and 68. A relatively small amount ofmovem'ent of these short extensionstl and '68 gives'a .much greater'movement of the longerarms l land 45. This movement of the extensions and the armsabout the pins is preferably obtained by a sleevemember 10 thatis free to slide-along the supporting member 42'and which hasan annular recess H into which the endsof theshort'extensions 61 and 68project. When the sleeve'member 'llliis moved upwardly; it elevates the inner ends of the extensions lil The sleeve member 10 is normally urged in onedirection, shown in Fig. Z'as. downwardly, by a spring" which rests at one end against a shoulder on' the bottle supporting member 42 and presses downwardly'at its other end against a portionof the sleeve member H1. The extent of downward movement of the sleeve member '70 is limited'by'a nut 14 threaded onto the lower portion of the bottle supporting member 46.

The arms :44 "and 45'are automatically, swung outwardly, as thechuck' devices'are conveyed around" the machine, by stationary earns 22, shown at theleft side of Fig. 1 and indicated in dot-dash lines beneath the sleeve member 70 in Figs. 2 and 3;

there is shown a developed elevational 'viewof a suitable cam; In'Fig. l, the cams are shown extending around the sprocket IQ for about degrees, but it is to be understood that it may be of any suitable length as well as being located at any appropriate location along which the conveyor moves.

As the bottle supporting devices 3 move along a cam 22 an inclined front portion it pushes upwardly against the underside of the sleeve member 10 in opposition to the spring I2 and swings the arms 44 and 45 about their pivot pins 5ll'and 5|; thus separating the "arms-and movingtheir Any suitable shape of cam may be used for operating the arms and in-Fig. 6'

shields 60 and 6! away from the bottle 2, for removal of a coated bottle and insertion of a fresh bottle. The arms and their shields are held in open position as long as they travel along a horizontal upper surface ll of a cam. As the sleeve member travels downwardly along inclined rear portion 78, the sleeve member is gradually lowered, due to the spring 72 pressing it downwardly, and the arms rotate about their pins toward an inward position, the shields coming into contact with bottle walls to shield appropriate portions of a bottle as well as to firmly grip it. While a single cam may be utilized for lifting and lowering the sleeve member Hi to open and close the arms, it is preferred to employ a pair of spaced cams, as this tends to elevate and lower the sleeve members evenly.

As previously referred to, it is desirable that the bottles be rotated adjacent the spraying station 23 to facilitate uniform application of coating materials. This may be achieved by the rack 25 shown at the right side of Fig. 1 which is adapted to be engaged by the gear 38 carried adjacent the lower end of each of the mounting spindles 31. The rack 25 may extend any suitable distance, but is shown extending through an arc of about 180 degrees. As the spindle gears 38 engage the stationary rack 25, they rotate the spindles to which they are keyed and thus rotate the bottle supporting member 42, together with the arms 44 and 45 and an intermediate bottle 2. As the gears 38 pass out of engagement with the rack, the bottle supporting member and its arms come to rest.

In some instances it is desirable to apply a coating only up to the fill line of the bottle, leaving the neck portion above the fill line free of any coating. In this event an auxiliary masking means 80 (Fig. 3) of generally tubular form may be carried by the support member. A bottle 2a is placed neck downwardly into the tubular member 80 and rests at its shoulder upon an upper edge of the tubular member. When a coating is sprayed against the bottle, its neck is eifectively masked and hence remains transparent. While this auxiliary tubular masking means is shown in Fig. 3 used with a square bottle it may be as readily utilized with round bottles.

The device shown in Fig. 5 is particularly usc ful in connection with applying coatings to shortnecked bottles. The tubular masking member 80A is shorter than that illustrated in Fig. 3 but operates in similar manner. To assist in accurately locating the neck of the bottle there is utilized a centering pin or member 82. This pin has an enlarged lower portion adapted to fit closely against interior walls of the tubular member 80a and is provided with an upwardly pro jecting central portion to project into the downwardly extending neck of the bottle. Inner walls of the bottle neck fit relatively closely with outer portions of the central pin 82 and the bottle neck is held in a central position, with the body of the bottle projecting inwardly above the tubular member.

It will be seen that the present invention provides new and improved means for supporting and shielding articles such as bottles during the application thereto of coating materials. The bottles are firmly retained in inverted position and have appropriate label areas masked against the application of coatings. The supporting and shielding devices travel continuously and are automatically opened for removal of coated bottles and closed against newly inserted bottles. At

the spraying station, the bottle supporting and shielding devices are automatically rotated so that the material being sprayed may readily reach all desired portions of the bottles. The machine and its supporting and masking devices are of relatively simple and yet rugged construction and are well adapted to withstand any rough usage to which they may be subjected.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of means for supporting a bottle and shielding the neck finish thereof, an arm normally extending alongside and rotatable toward and away from a bottle on said supporting means, a shield carried by said arm adapted to normally cover a body portionof the bottle, a member movable lengthwise of said supporting means and operatively connected with said arm for rotating the arm upon movement of the member to move the shield into and out of covering position, and resilient means intermediate portions of said supporting means and movable member for urging said member in one direction with respect to said supporting means. 4

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of means for supporting a bottle and shielding the neck finish thereof, a plurality of rodlike arms carried by and extending upwardly above said sup-porting means and movable toward and away from a position occupied by a bottle on said supporting means, a shield carried by at least one of said arms and located adjacent an upper portion thereof adapted to contact and cover a body portion of the bottle, a movable member associated with said supporting means and operatively connected with lower portions of each of said arms for simultaneously moving the arms upon movement of the member, stop means carried by said supporting means for limiting the extent of movement of said member, and resilient means for urging said member toward said stop means and upper portions of said arms inwardly toward said bottle position.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting member having a recess adapted to receive a neck portion of an article such as a bottle. a sleeve member surrounding said supporting member and movable therealong toward and away from an upper end of said recess, a bell crank rotatably connected with said supporting member having an upwardly extending arm, a shield carried by said arm adapted to contact a body portion of said article, said bell crank having an arm extending laterally therefrom and connected with said sleeve member for rotation of the bell crank in response to movement of said sleeve member, and resilient means surrounding said sleeve member and intermediate portions of said supporting and sleeve members f r r l y ing said movable sleeve member in a direction tending to swing said first mentioned arm of the bell crank and said shield inwardly toward a body portion of an article.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of means for supporting an article, a rodlike upwardly projecting arm secured to said supporting means movable toward and away from a position occupied by an article on said support- 7 ing :means,- an enlarged-shield "on said armad-' jacent an upper portion-thereof adaptedtocontact and shield portions of' an article, a member movable along-said-supporting means and operatively connected with said arm for moving the arm" upon movement of the member, resilient means for urging said member downwardly with respect to said supporting means, and cam means below said member for elevating said member in-opposition to said resilient means to thereby move said arm'and its shields outwardly away from said article position.

5.'A device as claimed in claim 1 in which generally tubular means is carried by and projects upwardly from the supporting means for maskingsubstantially the entire neck portion of a bottle.

6. A-- device as claimed in claim-1, in which stop meansiscarried by said supporting means for limiting the extent of movement-of said member, and in which the resilient meansurges said member toward the-stop means to thereby rotate the amend its shield inwardly toward a bottle on the supportingmeans.

7. A device as claimed in claim 4, in which means is provided for-simultaneously rotating said supporting means and any article thereon together-with said arm and its shield.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 1, in which said bottle supporting means has a socket therein and a projection is located within said socket and extends upwardly from a central portion of the socket for insertion into a bottle neck.

9; Ina machine of the classdescribed, the combination of an'endless conveyor; a plurality of article-holding devices carried by said conveyor at spaced intervals; each' of said devices includ-' ing means for supporting an article and shieldingv ing means and movable member ior urging said member in one direction with'respect to the supporting means.

FREDERICK Z. FOUSEh REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,195,670 Ferngren Apr. 2, 1940 2,335,931 Gladfelter et a1 Dec. '7, 1943 2,342,375 Shurley Feb. 22, 1944 2,387,213 Chew et a1 Oct. 16, 1945 

